Congleton in Cheshire has appointed Britain’s youngest Mayor. 21 year old Councillor George Hayes took up the chain of office tonight(May 9th 2013) at a packed Town Hall. George is 16 days younger than the UK’s previous youngest Mayor, Cllr Andrew Lawson from Workington in West Cumbria.
Cllr Hayes has been Congleton’s Deputy Mayor for the past year, and was praised for his ‘wise head’ by the out-going Mayor, Cllr Sally Ann Holland. Cllr Holland said: “We are fortunate to have such a passionate, caring young person to be our Town Mayor. Don’t be fooled by the fact George is just 21 years old – he has a very wise head.”
George Hayes was elected as a Town Councillor two years ago, when he was just 19, having already served for three years on the town’s Youth Council. He is a school governor for Eaton Bank Academy and Havannah Primary School, a Board Member for East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Cheshire East Young Enterprise, Co-chair of the Congleton Youth Forum and a trustee of Children of Romania, a Congleton based charity. He works part-time at both Eaton Bank Academy and Three Way Travel and is a member of the Conservative Party.
Cllr Hayes said: “I’m really honoured to be trusted with the role of Congleton’s Town Mayor. It’s a great town with a wealth of fantastic groups, organisations and volunteers which I plan to support during my year in office. For me it’s not about age, but if having a 21 year old mayor gives more people of all ages the confidence to get involved with political or civic events in Congleton then that has to be a positive thing.”
During his year as Town Mayor Cllr Hayes will raise funds for local organisations, and attend between 150-200 functions as Mayor as well as Chair Town Council meetings. He will be supported by Cllr Denis Murphy who has been appointed deputy mayor and Jordon Goodwin , aged 17 as Mayor’s Cadet.
